The Ocean King
by Sangami
Summary: Mia is a mermaid who always wondered about the world beyond the surface. Isaac is a prince who always felt something missing in his life. Ever since she rescued him, Mia was captivated by the lost prince. But... "Thank you for saving me, Jenna."


I have temporarily lost inspiration for my other fanfiction, Harry Potter and the Adepts of Weyard, because all of its chapters have been deleted from my computer due to an evil virus. Over the past few months I have been desperately trying to recover them, but now I realize that they're gone for good and its time to move on. Don't worry, I _will _get back to that story when I get inspired again, but currently I'm very upset over its loss. Oh well, enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy this piece!

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun, Camelot does.

---Meeting---

Once upon a time in a far away place, there was a flourishing underwater kingdom called Lemuria. The ruler of the city was none other than king Picard, who was known for his great wisdom and fair judgement. When one looked at the kingdom, it would seem as if it were just as any other with its bustling market place and beautiful sanctum. But there was one thing that truly made this city spectacular: The beings living here were not human, but mer-people. From their heads to their waists they would seem like land-dwellers, but from then on they had fins like that of dolphins, and scales that glistened when they caught the faint light which trickled down from the surface to the bottom of the sea. At the very edge of the kingdom there was a small forest of seaweed that waved in whichever way the current would go. Inside this forest there was a small boulder, and on it sat a lone figure with cerulean blue hair, staring up at the surface above.

"Mia! Mia, where are you?" a feminine voice called out from somewhere amidst the thicket of underwater plants.

The lone figure slowly turned about in the direction of the voice, her silky hair floating off her shoulders as she moved her head. "I'm right here, Sheba," she responded.

A young, blond haired mermaid emerged from behind a dense clump of seaweed and spotted her friend. "Ah, there you are! What are you doing? I thought we were supposed to be collecting plants for that medicine."

"We are. I just got a bit distracted, I guess." Mia lifted her head in the direction of the break between the ocean and the air and gazed at it longingly.

For a moment there was silence. The water above rippled slightly, manipulating the wavelengths of light so that it too traveled in shimmering waves, creating an ethereal effect on the ocean floor below.

Sheba sighed. "You're thinking about the surface again, aren't you? About the land and the sky and the birds and stuff, right?"

Mia nodded. "I wonder what it's like up there," she pondered.

Sheba crossed her arms and stared at her friend regardingly. "Mia, you know we're not allowed up there. Haven't you been listening to the elders? It's an awful place on the surface. The climate there is horrendous! Sometimes it's really hot, and sometimes it's really cold. Plus there are wars there and stuff. And did I mention the humans there? They're so cruel! They actually _eat_ fish! It boggles the mind that you actually want to go up there on your own free will." She paused and shook her head slightly, feigning disappointment. "Mia, Mia, Mia..." she chastised. "You are such a strange one."

Mia giggled, a singsong melody that could sooth the soul of even the most distressed of beings. "Who are you to talk, Sheba. You have _yellow_ hair! _Yellow_!"

"What?!" Sheba replied defensively, pretending to be cross. "I like my hair. It makes me feel special among all you blue haired mer-people."

Mia laughed. "Okay, okay. No need to get upset. Let's continue collecting those plants, shall we?" And with that she picked up the small bundle of red flowers she had gathered earlier and swam off, Sheba following close behind.

---------------

A few hours had passed, and the two mermaids had finished collecting the underwater flowers. They were on their way back to the Lemurian borders when something caught Mia's eye.

"Sheba, look." Mia said, pointing at a dark shape in the distance.

"What is it?" Sheba asked.

"I don't know. Let's check it out." Mia said, starting to swim toward the shape.

"Wait, Mia. It's too far away from Lemuria. It could be dangerous. There could be sting rays or something! You know what they always say, curiosity killed the cuttlefish."

"Well, if you say so..." Mia held a look of disappointment on her face, and the ends of her fins drooped slightly.

Sheba tilted her head, watching her friend's discontent expression. Although Mia was actually a few years older than herself, she could behave rather childishly at times. Sometimes Sheba felt as if she were actually the older of the two. Finally giving up, she placed a comforting hand on Mia's shoulder. "Hey, she said. If you really want to go check it out so much then fine. We'll go over there and take a peak, okay?"

Mia smiled, the ends of her fins immediately perking up in happiness. "Thanks, Sheba."

---------------

The dark shape turned out to be much farther than it had seemed from the border of Lemuria—nearly 2 miles away, to be exact. Sheba looked it up and down, but was unable to determine what it was. It was in a half circle shape, it was made up of planks of an unknown substance, and a large gash was borne into one side.

"It's a ship." Said Mia out of the blue.

"A what?" Inquired Sheba.

"A ship. It's what humans use to float on the water. Mom taught me before she passed away..." A small flicker of pain flitted past Mia's eyes.

"Oh." Sheba felt bad about bringing up painful memories and decided to steer the conversation back to the subject of the ship. "So if it's used to float, why is it down here at the bottom of the ocean?"

"See that hole over there?" Mia pointed to the wide gash at the bottom of the ship. "The water must have leaked through and dragged it down."

Sheba nodded and swam to the gash, peaking into the vessel. At much as she hated to admit it, her curiosity had been hooked and she now desperately wanted to go explore the inside of the strange contraption. Mia joined her at the gap and peered inside also. "So do we still have to go back right away?"

Sheba grinned and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I don't think going just a little bit further is going to hurt."

Mia smiled. "Me neither."

And thus, the duo entered the ship. It was quite marvelous, actually. There were so many objects neither knew about—mirrors, pipes, glasses, jewelry, paintings, coins, and much more. At one point they came across a fork. Not knowing what it was, Sheba suggested that it was used for brushing one's hair. Mia nodded in agreement. That certainly sounded reasonable. Just as they were examining a flute, Sheba heard a bumping sound.

"What was that?" She asked, instantly becoming alert.

"I don't know." Mia replied, also becoming more cautious.

Suddenly there was a loud Crash! from behind them. The two mermaids swirled around. There before them was a great white shark. It had knocked over and shattered a porcelain vase as it was sneaking up on them. A hungry look was in its eyes. It lunged at them and nearly bit off Sheba's arm. It was a good thing she had excellent reflexes.

"Swim for it!" she cried.

The two mermaids swam as quickly as they could in the opposite direction from the shark. They swam down numerous winding corridors, flicking they're tails as fast as they could as the adrenalin pumped through their bodies. The shark, with its larger mass, kept crashing against the walls as it attempted to capture its prey. At last it seemed as if the mermaids had lost the predator and they stopped to catch their breath, filtering large amounts of water though their gills.

"We've got to get out of here." Whispered Sheba.

"But what if we run into that shark again?" asked Mia.

Too late. The shark burst out from seemingly nowhere and rammed Sheba head on, the force causing her to crash into the wall behind her. Still disoriented, she could do nothing as the shark closed in on her, about to end her life then and there.

All Mia could think about was saving Sheba. She watched in horror as the shark was about to close its jaws on her. What could she do? She had to stop it somehow! Then she remembered: sharks are attracted to blood. Quickly, she dug her nails into her flesh, wincing as the skin broke and her blood came oozing out. The shark stopped in mid-lunge, then slowly turned its hungry eyes on her. It had found a new prey.

Mia dashed off, leaving a trail of bubbles behind her and praying that the shark would follow her away from Sheba. It did, and seemed to actually move faster due to the enticing scent of blood. Trying hard not to panic, Mia swam for the exit. The farther away she could lead the shark, the better chance of survival Sheba had. Leading it outside proved to be a bad idea, however. For without the various corridors within the ship to hinder its movement, the shark had become swifter than Mia was.

Mia's tail was beginning to ache from beating so quickly, and she was rapidly getting tired. The shark was gaining on her and there was nothing she could do to escape... or was there? Up ahead she saw an anchor. The loop on the top seemed to be big enough for her to fit through, but not for the shark. With a newfound hope for survival, Mia put in a last burst of energy to swim toward the anchor. 100 meters away, and her tail was burning with exhaustion. 50 meters away, and she could barely get enough water through her gills. 20 meters away, and the shark was almost on top of her. Just a few more meters... and she was through! The shark closed its jaws and just barely nipped the end of her fin before it became stuck in the loop of the anchor.

Mia's heart was nearly beating out of her chest. She was so exhausted she felt she could go to sleep right then and there. But she couldn't rest yet. The shark was struggling violently and would most likely get out of its trap in a few minutes. She had to get away before it could do so. Looking at the anchor trapping the shark, she noticed that there was a long chain attached to it, leading up to a large shadow floating on the top of the water. That shadow... It must be a boat. And a boat must have oars. And if it had oars, perhaps she could hang on to one and stay above water, out of reach from the shark until it gave up and left. Mia glanced around. Going to the surface was against the laws of Lemuria. And yet, she was so far away from Lemuria that nobody would see her go up there. Nobody would know that she had broken the law. Besides, this was her only chance for survival... not to mention probably her only chance to ever go to the surface.

Mia hesitantly and cautiously swam up toward the boat. Right before she reached the break between the water and the air, she paused. Did she dare to reach out? Did she dare to break the law just for her own survival? She swam up just a bit more so that her face was mere centimeters away from the surface. She faintly made out the outline of a light, round orb. Could it be... the moon? She swallowed and reached out a hand, breaking the surface of the water. A new sensation she had never known before greeted her. It was dryness. She allowed her other hand, then her face, then the rest of her upper body to break the surface. Grabbing on to an oar with both hands, she hoisted her entire body out of the water. She found she could no longer breath with her gills and began panicking when an instinct popped up, telling her to breath through her nose. The cool night air filled her lungs for the first time, and she relished the sweet smell of the ocean.

Lively music played through the night, and Mia couldn't help but feel drawn to it. Finding that she could reach the edge of the deck, she pulled herself up a little further so that she could see through the gaps between the railings. She was greeted with the sight of various feet prancing along the deck of the ship, dancing to the beat of the music. She wanted to pull herself higher but was afraid that if she did a human might catch sight of her, so she settled for merely watching the movement of the feet, which were quite fascinating already. Abruptly, a pair of brown boots stopped directly in front of her, nearly stepping on her fingers. The person who those boots belonged to made as if to lean on the railing. Mia quickly let go of the deck and slid back down to her seat on the oar, then pressed herself as closely to the side of the ship as she could to avoid being seen. Now that she was safe from sight, she gazed upward to see the face of the human leaning on the railing. It was a handsome boy with messy sandy brown hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a yellow scarf around his neck. He was staring out at the ocean, which sparkled under the gentle moonlight.

"Hey, Isaac!" Mia heard a masculine voice call out, though she couldn't see the owner of the voice.

"Yeah, Garet?" replied the boy leaning over the railing.

"Shouldn't you be dancing over here? I mean, it is your birthday afterall."

"Garet, you know I've never cared for dancing..."

"Yeah, I know. But come on! You're a prince for heaven's sake. You've gotta get used to this sooner or later."

"Fine, fine. I'm coming..." the boy said as left the railing to go dance with some of the other guests.

Mia stared at the spot the human boy had been a moment ago. "Isaac..." she whispered. So that was the name of the first human being she had ever laid eyes on.

* * *

I always get nervous on my first chapters 'cause I don't know if my idea is good or not. So please drop me a review and tell me what you think! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.


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